The global shipping industry is constantly evolving, and the COVID-19 pandemic began a marked shift in how container shipping operates. Disruption caused by the pandemic has forced the industry to expand its capacity and reduce costs to remain profitable.
At the peak of the pandemic, containers essentially stopped moving. As manufacturers went into lockdown and closed factories, many of the containers used to ship those manufactured goods were left stranded at ports or storage depots, where they weren’t needed. Simultaneously, freight shippers were reducing the number of vessels in use due to the manufacturing slowdown. This limited global shipping capacity and disrupted the worldwide flow of containers and goods. As a result, some regions were left with an excess of stored containers, while other places were left with no containers at all.
As the pandemic slowed and the global economy began to rebound, labor shortages and congestion at ports have left many of these stored containers stuck where they aren’t needed. Now, instead of a shortage of shipping containers, the industry is dealing with too many. Many container storage depots are turning away new clients due to lack of space, and some shippers are even giving containers away to make room. Blank and cancelled sailings are increasing as well, as shippers decide to skip a port or cancel a trip altogether in order to manage changes in demand and capacity.
Check back here for the latest news and insights on the state of the container shipping industry. You can also visit our maritime news archive to learn more about cargo shipping, or our American Shipper archive for air cargo shipping industry news.
August was a record month for the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, and the trend of higher year-over-year volumes could persist through the rest of 2021 as peak season approaches.
Dry bulk and LNG shipping stocks now at 52-week peaks with container stocks not far from the top.
Demand for container ships is so extreme that some operators are paying unprecedented sums to rent them.
Two of China’s main ports are preparing for the arrival of Typhoon Chanthu, which could slam Taiwan first.
Container volumes were “strong” in August amid continued retail import volume growth at the Port of Charleston, the South Carolina Ports Authority said.
In unprecedented move, CMA CGM unilaterally halts rate increases until February amid rising global supply chain chaos.
The Port of Long Beach has broken monthly cargo records 13 of the past 14 months.
Recent earnings reports from retailers exhibited improved inventory positions compared to a year ago. However, the comps show merchandise levels are still lagging sales by a wide margin.
The Vancouver transload facility will primarily handle fast-moving consumer goods and auto parts.
New details on record 2019 cocaine haul aboard MSC Gayane — which may not have been the first run — as U.S. wraps up convictions.
Virginia’s competitive advantages: a naturally deep harbor, semi-automated terminals and its own, newer chassis pool.
Cosco and MSC fight back against accusations that they inflated rates, violated contracts and broke U.S. law.
More container ships are stuck at anchor off California than ever before. The gridlock is about to get even worse.
C.H. Robinson announces a drayage surcharge at most of the nation’s biggest container ports as international drayage carriers have implemented congestion fees.
Discount chain Dollar Tree expects the positive impact from heightened consumer demand to be totally offset by elevated transportation expenses this year.
As stimulus-fueled demand overwhelms trans-Pacific capacity, a widening freight spread leaves small shippers behind.
The White House is trying to unleash the domestic economy by removing supply chain shackles.
U.S. rail terminals that handle imports are still grappling with chassis shortages, although efforts are being made to address overflow at the terminals.
Container mega-spike recalls epic dry bulk run over a decade ago. Here’s a look back at the last time shipping had it this good.
As this year’s peak season gets underway, dislocations in the supply chain are increasing. However, this is really nothing new as the industry has been in peak mode for a year.
Demand for new containers has been historically high. Even so, the Chinese factories that build the world’s boxes are churning them out efficiently.
Extreme measures to contain delta variant create unprecedented backlog of dry bulk ships off China.
It costs $1.2 million to charter a cargo jet from Vietnam as air exports slow because of the government’s response to a wave of COVID infections.
News about BNSF, Kansas City Southern, Trinity Industries and TTCI.
You can’t blame carriers for refusing to stick by a handshake agreement to sell service at pre-negotiated rates or at a discount.
Ocean carrier ZIM now expects to earn $4.8 billion-$5.2 billion this year — five times what it earned in 2020.
Port of Los Angeles boss warns: ‘Anchorage and dwell times are trending in the wrong direction.’
Ocean carriers adjust to the partial port closing in Ningbo, China, with minimal disruption so far. Operations could soon return to full speed if COVID remains at bay.
July’s volumes are a monthly record and the second highest for 2021.
Container volumes rose 25% at the Port of Savannah, while auto and machinery units grew 39% at Brunswick.
Queue of container ships off U.S. ports keeps building, with months’ worth of peak-season cargo still to unload.
Although Canadian grain shippers anticipate lower grain harvest volumes for the 2021-2022 crop year, adequate rail service remains a chief concern.
The Port of Ningbo is in a partial lockdown, putting immense pressure on an ocean transportation system squeezed to the maximum. It’s a replay of the Yantian port slowdown earlier this summer.
Canadian Tire is acquiring a 25% stake in Ashcroft Terminal in a deal that will allow the retailer to move containers from the Port of Vancouver more efficiently, while securing rail capacity.
South Carolina ports started the fiscal year off with a bang, moving a record volume of containers in July.
Yantian redux. Shipping activity slowed to a crawl at the Port of Yantian in China earlier this summer after an outbreak of COVID infections, and the same could happen in Ningbo if more cases are discovered.
Plaquemines Port announced it has found the site for its state-of-the-art container terminal that will be able to handle vessels carrying up to 22,000 TEUs.
The CEOs of five Class I railroads tell the Surface Transportation Board that the root causes of the congestion facing rail intermodal terminals are beyond the railroads’ control.
August is likely to see a new monthly record for retail container imports, with 2021 doing the same. However, ongoing supply chain dislocation clouds how quickly consumers will be able to get their hands on the goods.
Maersk results offer more evidence that capacity constraints and U.S. — not worldwide — demand drive rates.
“Be careful what you wish for,” warns industry expert Lars Jensen of proposals to rein in container shipping’s boom.
Los Angeles’ port boss speaks to American Shipper about congestion challenges — and potential release valves.
Container giant earned $5.1 billion in the second quarter and expects earnings of $18 billion-$19.5 billion for the year.
U.S. inventory-to-sales ratio still historically low as key import source — China — faces growing delta variant risk.
Almost no container ships were stuck at anchor when 2020 peak season began. This peak season, terminals are pre-clogged.
Ocean Network Express says the “economic environment is now changing” and it cannot forecast what the rest of 2021 holds, but Hapag-Lloyd can. It expects to triple 2020’s EBITDA.
We have a new winner in the ocean shipping game of “How High Can Rates Go?” — about 15 times higher than before the COVID crisis.
Disparities between container index prices wider than ever after big course correction by Freightos.
The Ever Given, stuck in the Suez Canal for six days in March, finally berthed at the Port of Rotterdam on Thursday.
Supply chain congestion is more about issues with throughput among various stakeholders and less about Norfolk Southern’s ability to handle volumes, executives said during NS’ second-quarter 2021 earnings call Wednesday.
Despite all-time-high container production, demand continues to outpace supply and new box prices keep rising.
Matson is adding a seasonal express service to help deal with the upcoming peak shipping season from China. But will it help with freight transportation delays?
JAXPORT saw a 15% increase in container volume and a 20% growth in vehicle volumes for the first three quarters of its 2021 fiscal year, the Florida port said Monday.
APM Terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast wants potential importing customers to know it has access to the Midwest via five Class I railroads.
Shanghai, the largest container port in the world, has stopped operations because of a big storm.
Vietnam is the newest epicenter for supply chain chaos. Manufacturing and port activity have been cut by new COVID precautions.
Kuehne + Nagel is one of the largest third-party logistics providers in the world and it got larger in the second quarter.
Fiscal year 2021 was a record year at the Port of Virginia, with an increase in loaded imports and volume growth for empty export boxes.
The ocean carrier said Monday that BNSF is reducing import traffic at the ports of LA and Long Beach, while inbound trains from New York area ocean terminals to three Midwestern destinations are also being monitored.
Despite epic container rates and hefty dry bulk profits, stocks fell by double digits over the past three weeks.
Container ships in the congestion-plagued trans-Pacific trade have stepped on the gas, with some vessels now topping 20 knots.
The seven-day suspension of service, starting on Sunday, is aimed at helping ocean carriers, UP and other stakeholders to catch up and relieve the congestion at West Coast ports and busy inland terminals, especially Chicago.
Wave of cargo delayed by COVID outbreak in Yantian, China, is starting to hit California’s already strained terminals.
Fiscal year 2021 was not only a banner year for South Carolina Ports but also a roller coaster one as volume lows in July 2020 transitioned quickly to record number of TEUs handled.
With 39 ships at anchor, the Port of Vancouver is continuing to feel the strain as CP and CN resume service in a fire-afflicted region of British Columbia.
“I think we need to squash the whole thing and start over,” said Kempisty.
An in-depth look at CEO compensation in container shipping, bulk shipping and the cruise industry
New disclosures by lines point to massive ocean-carrier profits in the second quarter.
A disruption to CN and CP rail service caused by a wildfire is putting the Port of Vancouver under pressure as Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd warn of delays and congestion.
More box ships, bulkers and tankers are changing hands than ever before — good news for ship values and stocks.
The saga of the Ever Given moves to its next chapter as the container ship that captured the world’s attention when it became wedged between the banks of the Suez Canal in March is released from custody in Egypt to resume its voyage to the Netherlands.
The biggest container shipping line in the world says container traffic at the massive Port of Yantian in China is moving much better after COVID restrictions were recently lifted. But exporters have a long way to go before ocean shipments go smoothly again.
Ocean carriers could make up for two decades’ worth of losses in a single year as demand overwhelms vessel supply.
NS is working to repair a defect that could affect over 5,000 chassis. The repairs come amid high congestion at terminals and intermodal facilities across the U.S.
California offshore traffic jam, Ever Given, Yantian closure, skyrocketing rates and volumes … what’s next for container shipping?
TRAC Intermodal details in a case study how it partnered with ZIM Integrated Shipping Services to develop a dedicated chassis pool at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Federal funding and private investments lend support to the supply chain infrastructure surrounding the Port of Savannah.
More problems loom for importers of Asian containerized goods and tanker slump could last even longer.
The South Korean ocean carrier says the newbuilds will provide the “capacity and flexibility” to serve its shippers.
May’s container movements at the Jacksonville port beat the previous record set in October 2019.
The Port of Yantian is operating at 100% on the vessel side again after a month of delays, but that doesn’t mean the container buildup will get resolved soon.
A year and a half after COVID emerged in Wuhan, China’s exporters, liners, shipyards and container factories are all booming.
A potential strike by Canada Border Services Agency officers threatens to disrupt the country’s supply chains. The Port of Vancouver could feel the most pain.
The project to expand the Howard Street Tunnel has received federal environmental approvals, bringing the $466 million project closer to fruition. The expansion will enable the tunnel to accommodate double-stacked container trains, which could benefit the nearby Port of Baltimore.
There has never been a better time to own container ships and lease them to liners. But some owners are selling ships and cashing out.
Normally big projects are scheduled during slow periods, but the Port of Savannah can’t wait to deepen its berths so there will be extra cargo delays for a few weeks.
An agreement reportedly has been reached that will allow the Ever Given to finally resume the voyage halted when the container ship became wedged between the Suez Canal banks in March.
Hapag-Lloyd now will add 12 23,500-TEU container ships to its fleet beginning in 2023.
Americans are spending more on services. Contrary to predictions, this has yet to curb demand for containerized goods.
Ocean carriers and Class I railroads both agree that chassis shortages are contributing to volume congestion. But solutions to relieve the congestion rely on multiple supply chain stakeholders, say the railroads.
Spot pricing has surged even higher, propelled by carrier rate hikes and China congestion fallout.
The report says that North America will be less appealing than Asia in the eyes of business, at least through mid-decade.
“We know larger ships carrying increased volumes are coming. We want to be out in front of that curve.”
Port Tampa Bay will become one of three Gulf Coast ports accepting containerized cargo from fruit importer Dole.
The headline number for May retail sales was a sequential decline. What may have been lost in the report is that consumers are continuing to spend at a record-setting pace, which bodes well for freight flows.
There’s fintech and FreightTech. PayCargo plays in both spheres and is well supported by investors.
May was the busiest month in the 114-year history of America’s busiest port.
Former chief mate of MSC Gayane gets seven years behind bars for lead role in massive 2019 smuggling operation.
South Carolina Ports is touting two new export facilities projects that will have access to the Port of Charleston: a production facility and distribution center for winemaker Gallo and an agricultural transload facility run by Northwest Grains.
South Korean shipping line HMM says it was victim of a cyberattack that caused outages to its e-mail systems.
